Peter Jackson Making Documentary on World War I

Peter Jackson is making a documentary about World War I to mark the centennial of the battle’s end.

The Lord of the Rings director is teaming up with bosses at the BBC and London’s Imperial War Museum to create the new film using original footage from their archives.

Peter, whose grandfather William John Jackson fought in the conflict’s famous Gallipoli campaign, said the project will focus on the real stories of people who lived through the war, which lasted from July 1914 until November 1918.

“I’ve always been fascinated by World War I due to my own family history and the Centenary felt like a unique opportunity to make a personal contribution to the commemoration,” the filmmaker explained in a statement. “I wanted to find a way to bring new life to the stories of ordinary people living through extraordinary times.”

For the film, the Academy Award winner has restored footage from the war, as well as colorising and rendering it digitally in 3D using modern production techniques.

Peter, 56, previously opened an exhibition in his New Zealand homeland featuring colorised images depicting life in the trenches and on the battlefields.

His new movie will premiere at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival, before airing in the U.K. on BBC One in November (18).